According to Oxford Languages, representation means how someone or something is described or presented. It can also simply mean how the media re-portrays a person, place, thing, or idea. Either way, representation allows the targeted audience to feel a certain way about a particular matter and develop interpretations of the characters; the takeaway, however, depends on the type of audience. These representations are crucial in portraying the storyline in Over the Limit (2017),The Boy In The Striped Pajamas (2008), and Stranger Things Season 4 (2022). All of the images below are from Google.
Over the Limit (2007)
Essentially, the protagonist in Over the Limit (2017) represents me as I, too, am a female rhythmic gymnast. The representations portrayed in this film are accurate due to the precise depiction of the life of a rhythmic gymnast; it conveys the commitment, diligence, and persistence rhythmic gymnasts tolerate to accomplish their goals in the sport. More specifically, the coaches (Irina Viner-Usmanova and Amina Zaripova) put constant pressure on the gymnast, Margarita Mamun; they wanted Margarita to live up to her expectations and achieve her dreams in the approaching 2016 Summer Olympics. One can comprehend the pressure placed on Margarita due to her facial expression and crouching down. These factors imply tiredness from her intense training leading to the significant event. As for framing, the movie cover directs the audience’s attention to the main character and her face considering she is staring straight ahead. It further focuses on the gymnast’s eye-catching leotard and ribbon to properly convey the sport of rhythmic gymnastics.
Marta Prus, the director and writer of Over the Limit, created this media piece. Therefore, she is responsible for determining the representation of rhythmic gymnasts. However, it is worth noting that she is a former rhythmic gymnast, resulting in a more precise portrayal of Mamun; her involvement in the sport provides her with specialized knowledge. That is to say, her experience in the sport allowed her to properly convey that coaches are often tough on their students to become the best version of themselves. In reference to the film, the stern coaches were pressuring Margarita—especially as the Olympics drew nearer—despite her exhaustion and continuous hours of training. In the long run, these representations create meaning by establishing the undertaking and effort that goes into the sport. It may further change the audience’s ideologies and appreciation for the sport.
Marta Prus partially relates to me since we have some similarities; we are both females and have experience in rhythmic gymnastics, but we have different age ranges. Due to Prus being a former rhythmic gymnast, she can connect more with the storyline she is conveying and create media representations more exact to the character.
The Boy In The Striped Pajamas (2008)
The Boy In The Striped Pajamas (2008) represents me through religion—I am Jewish, likewise to the character, Shmuel. As implied in the movie, Jews were stereotyped as inferior to Germans. That is to say, Bruno’s family and the hired tutor, as pictured to the left, taught antisemitism to him and his sister, Gretel. The scene where Bruno was shocked when he found out Shmuel, a boy he made friends with on the other side of the fence (a concentration camp), was a Jew depicts the stereotype that Jews were the enemies. Consequently, these representations are inaccurate as Bruno and his sister were brainwashed and taught Nazi propaganda.
Non-Jewish people are responsible for creating this representation due to their ideology that Jewish people act a certain way; they may assume that other religions are superior due to stereotypes and generalizations. These representations impact the movie’s audience since it enlightens them on the ideologies of the time period and the experiences Jews often went through in concentration camps.
The creators of The Boy In The Striped Pajamas represent me to no extent; my age, gender, race, and religion don't correlate to that of the cinematographers. As for the Non-Jewish people creating these representations, they are similar to the characters and storyline of this movie. In other words, stereotyping resulted in Nazis placing Jews in concentration camps due to the ideology that Jews were inferior to Germans.
Stranger Things Season 4 (2022)
The school scenes in Stranger Things Season 4 (2022) represent the experiences of a high school freshman in 1986, and therefore, represent me; Eleven, the main character, and I are female freshmen in high school. Through mise-en-scene, the TV show effectively creates representations of these experiences. In particular, Eleven’s nervous facial expressions and reluctance to raise her hand in class indicate her shyness and inexperience in school, considering it is her first day and she wants to fit in. The clothing color and designs worn by the students signify the time period. The props—namely, the students’ projects—express the homework assigned to the students at the time.
These stereotypes are what most students undergo at school, hence their accuracy. The media first creates these representations of how high school students act—that there is a mean, popular classmate that tends to bully the shy, new kid. However, the producers, directors, and writers enhance these representations to fit the plots and scenarios of this movie; since the storyline is fictional, they use the media’s stereotypes to make up the storyline and add the elements that tie this season of Stranger Things together. In connection to the TV show, the popular student, Angela, continuously mistreated Eleven at Lenora Hills High School.
Matt and Ross Duffer, the creators of the Stranger Things series, solely relate to me by having the same race. Aside from race, we have contrasting age groups, gender, and religion. Nevertheless, the Duffer Brothers who create these representations are similar to the character and storyline by means that they were born in 1984 and they set the season for 1986. Consequently, they have expertise on the time period and are more likely to create valid representations of high school students in the 1980s. Their knowledge, in turn, allows them to form connections between the show and the audience. It also enables them to properly convey what one may have experienced as a high schooler in the late 1980s.
Representation in the media considerably affects an audience and indicates characterizations of a person, place, thing, or idea. Ultimately, it is necessary for expressing meanings, altering one’s conceptualization, and forming connections. It equally influences the viewers to hold certain judgments on a subject.
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